Once Lost, Now Found
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Fai and Yue were considered the twins of misfortune. When Yue sacrificed himself to save his twin, he thought that was the end of it. However fate has another plan in store for him and has given him a new chance at life in the form of an infant. But there is always a catch. The infant he is born in is the new container for a Fox Demon, and this child has a fate of his own.
1. Chapter 1

_My name was Fai. I used to be alive...until I sacrificed my life in order to free my twin brother Yue. Because we were twins, we were condemned to live in hell for the crime of being alive. Our mother committed suicide because she had given birth to two sons instead of just the one._

_In that kingdom, there could never be twin princes. Our powers would become too great together and would overpower the King. And for that, we were sent to live in a place that only the most heinous of criminals would be cast. It was a place called Gehenna, Hell on Earth. Time did not flow the way it did outside._

_When we were still young, innocent people began to fall into that pit. My brother Yue was the one to read the notice that the King blamed us for his madness. All because we would not condemn the other to death._

_Finally, the King himself fell into that pit of hell, cursing us both just for being alive._

_It was clear that we would die if we did not escape. But we were separated by the tower and pit. There was no way for us to join hands and overpower the curse that bound us there._

_Then a man came. He offered to free my brother in exchange for my life._

_I gladly sacrificed myself to free Yue. Sadly, this did not mean that I had ended my existence. For five long years I followed my twin as he learned magic in hopes of reviving me. Unseen by anyone, I studied magic with him._

_Where Yue, who had taken up my name so that he would never forget it, studied medicine, I studied how to protect others. He would be the healer, I, the fighter. Never again would I allow someone to hurt my brother the way the King had when he cursed us._

_After I had read the last book in the library, which had taken six long years since Fai had come to that new world, I felt a pull. Originally I fought it, but it wouldn't be denied. I gave my twin one last sorrow filled look before I vanished._

_I didn't know that my brother sensed my departure, or that he was inconsolable for months after._

_When I next awoke, I found myself inside a womb. Clearly I was being given a second chance at life. But I wasn't alone in that stomach._

_There was something in that body with me. A presence which was both foul and powerful. I didn't sense the presence of another twin. This wasn't human in origin._

_Tentatively, I made contact with my magic._

_And found myself sharing the space with a massive Kyuubi no Kitsune. A beast I had only heard myths about._

"_**I don't know who you are, and frankly I could care less. Unless you give me a good reason, I might just eat you."**_

"_...How about a decent conversation?"_

"_**Hah! I know you're not my accursed jailer brat. So how did you end up here?"**_

"_Apparently I was reborn in the body of the infant your jailer carries now. Which meant I had a way to come here. She does not know her son has the soul of someone who died in another world."_

_The fox's eyes glinted._

"_**So you are aware of the other worlds. I assume you know about the Witch as well?"**_

"_The Time Space Witch, the Dimensional Witch Yuko. I know about her. You wish to make a deal with her in exchange for your freedom?"_

"_**Me and my kin. I am tired of being used by these damn humans. I want to be free of their seals, and I suspect the others would say the same."**_

"_How about this then? If I am still alive when my magical core reaches the proper size for a dimensional jump, I'll try to bring you as well."_

"_**Knowing my luck, my current jailer will be killed and her husband will seal me in you."**_

"_Then we could work together. I see no reason to join forces when it would prove mutually beneficial for both of us."_

_The Fox debated. It was a reasonable offer. And unlike the other humans, this one treated him with the proper respect and didn't once consider him a beast._

"_**You have a deal brat. Though I would advise hiding now. My jailer is aware that I am talking to someone."**_

"_We have an accord. It will be interesting to see how this goes, Kyuubi-san."_

"_**What name do you go by?"**_

"_Seeing as how I have lost my own, you may call me Yue."_

_Yue vanished right before his 'mother' appeared demanding to know who the fox had been chatting with._

* * *

For the next six months, Yue and the Fox became something akin to friends. Yue spoke of magic and his past, the fox explained a few things to the misplaced mage. Since he was being reborn, his magic levels were low for him. Though it was still high for a child not even out of the womb.

Kyuubi had a plan once he had his own body again. He would sacrifice a few tails in order to gain the power to jump worlds and turn into a human. Hopefully Yuko would accept his payment for his siblings. If she did, then they would no longer be bound to serve humans as batteries for their jutsu.

And as an added bonus, the Juubi would never again be assembled. With the removal of the tailed beasts, the ten tailed demon that their father sealed away in the moon would never be freed.

Finally, Yue could feel that his body was about ready to be ejected from the womb.

Kyuubi was eagerly awaiting the birth of his new partner. Yue was a surprisingly good conversationalist, and he hoped the link would remain even if the body was no longer in direct contact with his container.

Finally, the day came. Yue was going to be reborn.

He could feel the walls around him start to close in and push downwards. The process was painful for females he knew, and to be honest it wasn't that pleasant for him either. Finally his head pushed through the tiny opening and he let out a loud cry of relief.

His eyes weren't ready to open just yet, as the chakra fueled air could easily damage them. However his ears, once he got over the pained sounds of the woman who had given birth to him, worked just fine. In fact, they were better than he remembered during the first go around.

He listened as a man came, one who was interested in freeing the fox. He heard the scream as the fox was literally ripped from his mother's body and a roar of rage.

He finally opened his eyes to see his mother's face. She was a beautiful woman with crimson red hair and green eyes.

"I love you, my Naruto."

_'Fishcake? Who the hell would be sadistic enough to name their son fishcake?!'_

He heard a rumbling chuckle in his mind, and realized the link between him and the fox was still there.

"_**I can't believe they went through with that damn name. It's supposed to be Maelstrom by the way."**_

"_Still, fishcake? Why are you attacking that village?"_

"_**! #$%^&*() Uchiha used his Mangekyo Sharingan. I hate that stupid eye bloodline!"**_

"_Can't you stop it?"_

"_**The damn thing is a weaker version of the Rinnegan. And the Mangekyo sacrifices sight to insure full control. The damn thing is too strong, even for me."**_

"_...What about both of us? Didn't you say a foreign presence breaks most...what did you call it again? Genjutsu?"_

"_**Yes, but how do you plan to do that?"**_

Yue concentrated his magic, and sent it through the link. His mother, who he learned was named Kushina, felt something, but didn't understand what. She held her new son all that much tighter as a result though.

The Kyuubi's roar of annoyance was heard throughout Konoha. The Genjutsu was broken, but he still had to deal with pissed off Leaf nin because of Madara's stunt.

Minato, wondering why the fox had suddenly stopped attacking, went to get his son. He would have to seal the fox inside Naruto, since Kushina was too weak to handle the upgraded seal.

The Fox was pissed, but once he understood what Minato intended to do, he didn't try to fight the sealing that much. If he had calmly allowed it the man would have been suspicious, so he put up a little struggle.

However, out of those there, Gamabunta was the only one not fooled in the least.

"**What are you up to Fox?"** the toad boss asked in a low rumble.

_**'Your blond summoner is doing me a favor sealing me in the brat. We've already struck up an accord. Once his reserves are high enough he'll take me to the Time Space Witch.'**_

"**Her? She's just a myth!"**

_**'She is as real as you or I, Toad. The problem is the price. I will let the woman live, if only to keep the boy from becoming an orphan. But the man will die by Shinigami's Hand.'**_

"**MINATO! Are you an idiot boy?! I will not allow you to use your soul to seal the damn fox away! You're the only summoner who hasn't pissed me off yet!"**

Suddenly Madara appeared again, and used his eye on the Fox once more. He wanted Minato dead so he had to use the fox.

He found out the hard way someone was supply foreign chakra to the demon to keep a repeat of what happened when the fox first came out.

However it did have an unexpected side effect of him attempting to regain control. Many shinobi saw someone on the fox's nose, and from the tone of the Fourth, the man was the enemy using the fox.

Which meant the Fox hadn't attacked at random at all. Someone had turned it on Konoha.

The Fox, in a fit of rage, sent a tail at the man. He dodged the blow...only for it to go through Kushina.

Minato used what was left of her chakra and merged it with his own to seal the fox inside his son. Shinigami took both of their souls, but a good portion of their spirits remained in the seal.

And so the Fox was gone, as was the mystery man who had used it in the attack.

Some would blame the fox for killing their hero, but most would blame the man who no one got a good look at. They had survived an attack...but it would be years before the village fully recovered from the loss of their hero.

* * *

Naruto got out of bed. Today was the day he entered the Academy. Like always, he felt a pang of loss as he looked around his empty apartment. The only other living things there was the litter of foxes that lived with him, since he had rescued them from some drunken shinobi who had gotten pissed and tried to kill them.

They were barely babies, and the man had tried to kill them. Naruto loved animals, so he kicked the guy in the nads and ran with the infants. Their mother and father were already dead from kunai wounds.

Soon they would be big enough to live on their own. He had already shown them how to kill the rodents and other vermin that thrived in the hell hole that was his home.

Many people hated him for something he didn't understand. Most called him demon brat and monster.

For some reason he never took it personally. Most people would have retaliated for the abuse they heaped on him, but he never did. The only time he did react was during the birthday mobs.

He would take the kits with him to hide inside the Hokage's office, where the mobs never dared to besiege because it would bring the ANBU down on them in a heartbeat.

While on his way to the Academy (insuring the foxes would survive until he returned) he found an odd-looking feather on the ground. It was pure white and had strange markings on it. He put it in his pocket, unaware of what it would do later.

* * *

"_**You sensed it as well, didn't you?"**_

"_The amount of power this thing has is ridiculous. It's a good thing we found it before one of the fools in this village did."_

"_**Are you going out again tonight?"**_

"_You know as well as I do that we need a firm power base to work off of if Naruto wishes to become Hokage. By befriending those orphans and those poor children brainwashed by the one called Danzo, we'll at least have some people who won't treat him like scum and will work with him."_

"_**I still can't believe you hide behind this personality just to avoid suspicion."**_

"_People would ask the wrong questions and cause more trouble than it's worth if I didn't act like one of the parents. The woman's wild personality felt easier to drop into...and it provides a good cover in case things go bad."_

"_**Plus you get to cause trouble without people questioning it. But why the obsession with ramen though?"**_

"_I swear that HAS to be inherited. Either that or it has unhealthy amounts of some additive which makes it addicting."_

"_**I vote inherited. Both my former container and her husband were absolutely in love with the stuff."**_

"_Huh...I'll see you in the morning Kurama-san."_

"_**Night. I'll keep the brat alive until you get back."**_

* * *

Yue had a self-imposed mission. He would reach out to all the orphans in the village and keep them from being tainted by the adults towards Naruto.

So far he had managed to succeed with a few children no one even paid any mind.

A boy with strange eyebrows, a girl with a passion towards weapons, a child with a blank stare and no name of his own.

Naruto had run into two of the three, and they had immediately become friends despite being in different classes.

Soon the first chance to graduate would happen in the next month. Naruto was eager to get out of the Academy and prove his worth to an uncaring village.

He knew there were voices in his head that actually cared, because occasionally he heard them talking while he pretended to sleep.

One was a nice male voice named Yue. The second was a grumpy voice who was called Fox something or other. Both of them usually shut up the second it seemed like he was listening in. but from what he knew, they didn't seem to think he was a monster at all.

In fact they were trying to make sure he had friends to talk to.

He just wished that they would talk to him sometime too.

* * *

Five years after Naruto found the odd feather, several things had changed. For one, he finally got to talk to one of the voices he knew was there. It usually hid itself whenever the Yamanaka clan did the yearly evaluation of the student's psyche. They couldn't let someone clearly insane (and not in a good way) graduate to become a ninja.

Naruto had a few people he could tentatively call friend, but he wasn't close to any of them. None of them knew that he had voices in his head that he could chat with. Yue often made things clearer for him when he couldn't understand. He encouraged the boy to read.

And with the ability to change his appearance, Naruto often used the henge to go into stores without getting price gouged. Today was his last chance to become a ninja.


	2. Chapter 2

Yue was the first to console Naruto when he failed the test again. However, he also knew it wasn't entirely the boy's fault. Someone had placed a chakra restriction seal on him before the test, which made his control so bad he would have trouble with even the Henge, which was definitely his best one.

Naruto didn't know that, and Yue couldn't tell him since Naruto had yet to master the ability to walk and communicate through mind speak at the same time. It would be a long while before they could speak without telling people Naruto was up to something.

So Yue directed Naruto to a little used training ground. Mizuki found him there and offered him an...alternate...graduate exam.

Yue immediately knew he was lying through his teeth. There was no alternate exam at all. The Kyuubi had lived through it once, and he knew that it was three strikes and that was it. If you were lucky, they gave you a fourth attempt, but it was very rare.

Mizuki planned to use Naruto.

* * *

Yue encouraged Naruto to do his speed copying trick that the voice had walked him through. The next thing the blond knew, he had half the scroll down. So he used that time to complete his shadow clone and got the surprise of his life.

On one side was a perfect copy of him...but the other had a skinny boy a few years older than him with long hair and light blue eyes. His hair wasn't golden, like his, but rather a light blond color.

"Yue-nii?" he asked tentatively.

"Huh...wasn't expecting that. I suppose this means we'll soon be able to prank everyone together now. But first, could you hand me a sharp kunai? Long hair drives me nuts."

Naruto tossed him one, and the blond immediately pulled it into a loose pony tail and cut everything from the neck down. The blond hair now fell down loosely in waves. He looked years younger like that.

"So that's what you look like Yue-nii?"

"Yup! Now we can talk face to face without you crashing into walls. I'll need to get a different outfit though."

Naruto spent the rest of the time chatting with Yue, who popped the clone the second he felt Iruka coming close. Naruto was worried until Yue spoke to him in his mind like usual.

When Mizuki revealed the fox, Naruto had an epiphany.

'Yue-nii, is that other guy I hear you chatting with the fox?'

_'Yes, and if you ask nicely and don't treat him like a thing he might talk to you too.'_

Naruto acted suitably panicked, and ran after Iruka got seriously hurt protecting him from a rather large shuriken. Naruto listened to Iruka's true opinion, tears streaming down his face. Yue sounded very pleased that the man had come around on his own without his help.

Naruto used his Kage Bunshin and while he beat the living crap out of Mizuki, Yue made an appearance next to Iruka and used the medical magic he learned while he stayed with his twin to heal the wound on his back. He was surprisingly adept at it, despite the fact he never practiced it before in his life.

So when Yue was introduced to the surprised Iruka, the first thing that came to mind was...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S ONE OF THE VOICES INSIDE YOUR HEAD?!"

* * *

The Hokage could feel a migraine coming on. Once Naruto had introduced Yue and the misplaced mage told Naruto to wait for him at the ramen stand with Iruka, the boy looked at the Hokage with something akin to sympathy.

"You want to know who I am and why I'm stuck in Naruto. To be honest, I was there first. I simply allowed that personality develop on its own and took the back seat."

"What?"

"I was in his body first. Roughly at three months during his development in the womb. After the incident with the Fox, I simply allowed what his natural personality would be developed without interference in order to hide in this world. I didn't exactly ask to be reborn into a world full of ninja."

The Hokage looked at him in shock. He had no idea there were two different personalities in Naruto, or that one had been there before the loveable blond knucklehead.

"So if that's the case, how are you here now?"

"Shadow clones split pieces of the user's mind between corporeal forms. Because I was there first, that meant when Naruto learned the jutsu I was automatically sent into a clone. As long as he makes more than two, I automatically come out. I've been out and about the village anyway, making sure he at least had some friends his age to play with. If I hadn't, the adults would have poisoned their kid's opinion of him without giving him a chance."

"You know the paperwork for your living situation is going to be a headache and a half, right?"

"Hold on..." he said, as he tapped his hair once and it turned a familiar bright red. The exact same shade as Kushina.

"Just play me off as a missing Uzumaki. Since I was reborn and given form through Naruto, my blood will at least match the Uzumaki clan on record, including their abilities. The rest is simply coming up with a good backstory. And no shinobi will be able to detect a trace of dye or henge, so they won't be able to know my hair isn't naturally red."

"Or I could play you off as the missing son of Minato. With that hair color and your blue eyes, all you would be missing is the ability to use seals and speed."

"I chat with the Kyuubi frequently. We made an arrangement years ago. I can pass off as a seal master easily because of him."

"Namikaze then. Minato's clan wasn't as well-known, and while your hair would pass as Uzumaki red, they did keep records."

"Hmm...You have a coin?" he asked.

With a flip of a coin, Yue's new last name was finalized. He would come through the front gate with the name Yue Uzumaki. And once he claimed Naruto as his brother, the boy would no longer be alone. He could pass off the blond hair as part of his father's side.

The irony was that Yue could use Kushina's chakra chains, since he was able to speak to her inside the seal and Naruto had no idea his parents were even there.

She had been very surprised when she heard the truth, but had practically adopted the boy the second she learned the full story on how he died.

Since he supplied the energy for her to exist while maintaining the seal (with Kyuubi's help, funnily enough) she taught him everything she knew about the Uzumaki clan, including their techniques. Minato, when he finally learned about Yue, did the same.

However their training sessions were much shorter since the Fox was still pissed about being sealed by the blond.

* * *

The entire village was in an uproar about Naruto's missing _older_ brother who appeared at the village gates. Naruto had been warned about the prank they were playing on everyone, since he didn't need it common knowledge that he had voices in his head that he could talk to.

So with a Kyuubi-chakra filled clone possessed by Yue, his 'older brother' made an interesting entrance into the village with his last name. Naruto was all too willing to play along. Only the Hokage and Iruka knew that Yue wasn't really alive.

Once he was tested, Yue was made a genin along with Naruto, to be placed on the same team as his brother.

"Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Naruto and Yue Uzumaki. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

* * *

Four hours later, Kakashi lead them to the roof for their introductions.

"Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I love ramen, Yue-nii, and foxes. I hate emos, banshees and people who can't tell the kunai from the school. My dream is to one day be Hokage, believe it!"

"How can you love your older brother if you've only just met him?" scoffed Sakura.

"Haruno-san, please don't insult my little brother. How do you think I knew to come to Konoha before one of the other villages? Naruto and I chat occasionally through a seal based transmitter. I must admit I was surprised when my half started picking up a signal. I had thought my..._our_ mother had lost hers," lied Yue smoothly.

Naruto tried not to laugh. He knew the transmitter was a lie, since Yue was part of his mind.

"Your turn flighty," said Kakashi.

"My name is Uzumaki Yue. I like seals, books, birds, healing and flying. I dislike people who believe in fate and ridiculous superstitions as a basis to hurt others. My dream is to one day find my other half and travel the world with Naruto."

"Flying?" scoffed Sasuke.

"You ever cliff dive? It's like flying," said Yue. The truth was he enjoyed the feeling of falling from that tower even if his body died on the way down.

"Meet me at Training Ground 7. Don't bother to eat unless you want to puke."

Naruto didn't even look at Sakura as he practically dragged Yue to Ichiraku ramen.

Ichiraku gave Yue an odd look. He knew for a fact Naruto was Kushina's first. And Minato had no other children. So for Yue to claim to be Naruto's brother was ridiculous.

While Naruto became oblivious to everything but the ramen in front of him, Yue leaned towards the man and explained what was really going on.

Yue was an Uzumaki (technically) and since he already viewed Naruto as a younger brother the matter was settled in the eyes of the Hokage. All Teuchi needed to know was that Yue didn't view Naruto as the Fox and fully planned to help him realize his goal of becoming Hokage. After that he didn't question the fact Naruto now had a brother.

* * *

Yue threw the alarm at the wall. It was an old model, well used to the abuse by now. It bounced off the wood and shut up.

He yawned, and prepared breakfast.

"Yue-nii, didn't Kakashi say not to eat anything?"

"Naruto, Kakashi is late to everything. By the time he makes it to the training ground, you'll have already digested breakfast anyway. Now eat."

"What about the others?"

"If they haven't bothered to look up Kakashi, then that's their problem. My only concern is protecting you."

"Neh, Yue-nii...do you think we'll pass?"

"If we don't, then I think of something. Didn't that one jounin say she would teach you if you managed to get a headband?"

"Yeah, but she's crazy!"

"Naruto, need I remind you that hearing voices in your head that talk back is considered crazy?"

"...I thought it was losing an argument with yourself?"

Yue grinned at him.

"That too."

* * *

Hearing the stomachs of the other two rumble made Yue grin evilly. Apparently the two hadn't bothered to eat breakfast or even look up their new jounin sensei.

Yue had Naruto reading with him while the other two glared at them because their stomachs weren't rumbling.

"Yo!" said Kakashi, three hours later.

"YOU'RE LATE!" screeched Sakura.

Kakashi noted that the loudmouth blond hadn't joined her tirade. Instead he was...reading? The older Uzumaki was gently coaching him through difficult words. They were completely unconcerned with his tardiness. The broody Uchiha just glared at him in annoyance...and shooting glares at the Uzumaki duo.

"Maa, maa...I saw a black cat crossing my path and I had to take the long way around."

"Don't you mean you were observing from three trees back to see how your new team would react?" asked Yue.

Kakashi blinked and looked at the older blond. He had sensed Kakashi that far back?

"In order to pass, you will need to get three bells from me. The one who doesn't will be sent back to the Academy. Those who do will get lunch."

"WHAT?!" screeched Sakura.

"I suppose it's a good thing we ate before we came," said Yue cheerfully, enjoying the look of hate from Haruno.

"I thought I said not to eat?" said Kakashi eye smiling.

"I've heard of you, Hatake Kakashi. And I _heard_ about your reputation. I deduced that by the time you bothered to show up we would have digested our breakfast already. Am I the only one who bothered to look you up in the village?" asked Yue.

Seeing the look of shock and discomfort on the other two genin, he realized he had. Apparently they had taken it for granted that Kakashi would show up on time.

Kakashi gave the blond an approving look. He didn't take anything to chance, but he wasn't uptight either. He could work with this one.

"In any case, retrieve the bells and you get lunch...and pass. Fail, and it's back to the Academy with you."

Kakashi grinned at them. He never asked to be a jounin sensei, this was forced on him. He enjoyed breaking their dreams.

Too bad the council was forcing him to pass them on the first sign of teamwork. At least he would have some fun with this bunch.

"Your time starts...now."

Kakashi was surprised to find that Yue was the one to challenge him first.

"And here I took you to be smart."

"Oh, I am. I also plan to give the runt a chance to convince his teammates without you interfering. Besides, we ran into Mitarashi-san earlier and she gave us her sympathies for landing you as a sensei...and offered her services as our teacher if Naruto ended up on a team he couldn't work with."

"WHAT?!" yelped Kakashi. This was bad. He didn't know Naruto not only _knew_ Anko, but was friends with her!

"Which means I have time to play with you. Shall we?"

Yue held his hands out, like he was holding a staff. And to Kakashi's shock, one appeared made completely out of chakra. It was like dealing with Kushina-nee all over again with her chains. Yue's staff was about as long as his chest, and he leaned cheerfully on it with his head resting on his hands.

Yue broke into a run and before Kakashi could properly react to the shock of seeing a chakra-staff so similar to Kushina's chains, he attacked. The boy, while not formally trained to use the chakra weapons in real life, was very, very good with that staff.

Kakashi was hard pressed to block the flurry of hits, flips and kicks Yue made against him while using the staff to prop him up. Once, he even did a one-handed stand with the staff holding him up before delivering a perfect ax kick to Kakashi's head.

Meanwhile, Naruto was attempting and failing to get the others to work with him against Kakashi. Sasuke was too sure of himself and Sakura would never do anything that involved Naruto without him.

Finally Naruto threw up his hands in defeat.

_'Yue-nii, they refuse to listen! You can send Kakashi out now.'_

Yue paused in his assault, and offered Kakashi a hand up. He took it, though he gave the boy an odd look.

"It would seem they failed to grasp the purpose of this exercise. Naruto just informed me that neither of them was willing to work with us to take the bells."

"...How do you know that?"

"Mind to mind speech. The transmitter I spoke of before created a link between us so we could speak without words. Highly useful, but very distracting. Naruto has yet to master the art of speaking whilst walking I'm afraid."

Kakashi chuckled.

"Your skills are good. I'm almost tempted to pass you and Naruto on principle, but we need a _three_ man team, not two."

"Couldn't you ask for a genin who has lost his team? Make it a full four-man squad?" suggested Yue.

"...Can you do a henge and pretend to be me for about fifteen minutes?"

"Easily."

"I'll be right back."

Kakashi came back with good news. There was a genin who was in need of a team. Apparently Danzo had overheard the conversation and offered one up when asked.

All he had to do was witness Naruto and Yue working together and he could pass them. Those two were easily to get along with and they understood that working together was important. Besides, Kakashi _really_ didn't want to train the Emo Avenger and the Fan girl.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke and Sakura were pissed when they learned that Naruto and his brother would pass...while they were being sent back. Sasuke might have been the rookie of the year, but even the previous one had understood that teamwork was needed. The boy needed a wake up call if he wanted to become a shinobi.

The council, when they learned of Kakashi's decision to drop the last Uchiha from the ninja program, hauled him up to explain himself.

"Uchiha Sasuke is nothing like his clan. Even his father, Fugaku, understood that sometimes you have to be willing to work with people you don't particularly like to get things done. During the test, he was approached by one of his teammates asking for his help to retrieve the bells. Instead he told them that he didn't _need_ their help and that he alone would pass this test. The boy needs a reality check before he can become a shinobi. And to be honest, I don't see why I was saddled with a chakra-heavy loudmouth, an emo avenger who's only thought is fratricide, and a bloody fan girl. Taking them out to the field is an almost guarantee to get them killed. They had no respect for each other during their introductions and it would take a miracle for them to cooperate during a mission without a fight," said Kakashi bluntly.

Councilwoman Haruno sputtered indignantly at the fan girl comment. Even if it was true to anyone who saw how Sakura reacted to Sasuke.

"Enough. Kakashi, is that your final decision?"

"Yue and Naruto Uzumaki were not only willing to work together, but even tried to get two people who wanted nothing to with them in order to complete a task. Yue was the one to ask if it was possible for me to pass them seeing as how they worked well with any of the other rookies, barring the Uchiha and Haruno, and take on a teamless genin."

"While Kakashi's suggestion was unorthodox, it is acceptable to take on a teamless genin to complete the four man squad. Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno will have to seek apprenticeships within the next week if they wish to become genin," said the Hokage.

The entire Civilian council was pissed that Kakashi dared to throw back the last Uchiha. He was the last Sharingan user in Konoha. He _had_ to teach the boy!

* * *

Yue was chatting with their new teammate, an emotionless boy who looked a bit too much like the Uchiha boy named Sai. Kakashi was testing them again to see how they did against him. If they could work together, then he would submit their names as his team.

"You know, I don't understand Konoha's fascination with the Sharingan. I mean wasn't the Kyuubi being controlled by a lone assailant nearly fourteen years ago?" asked Yue.

"Unfortunately, while people saw that the Kyuubi wasn't acting of its own free will, no one got a good look at the man to see if he had the Sharingan. Because of that, people still resent the Kyuubi."

"Yes, but I still don't see why that council keeps acting as though Sasuke is the Rikudo Sannin reborn. I mean isn't this village full of kekkei genkai? Why do they put so much emphasis on a single set of eyes?"

"...I've never actually thought about it. Now that you mention it, it is a tad odd. Perhaps you should ask the Hokage," he suggested.

"I did. He doesn't understand it either. When I asked that man with the pale lavender eyes he gave me an odd look but never answered my question," said Yue straight-faced.

Kakashi blinked.

"Could you describe him?"

"He acted like he had a stick up his ass, and I think he was in the council. I approached him after I was called in to speak about my past, and he left without answering me."

"Yue-san, you have some serious courage to actually ask the Hyuuga clan head a question like that..." said Kakashi.

Yue did smile. Kakashi had learned that not only was Yue easygoing, he was also scarily smart. The amount of jutsu he knew to cause damage was terrifying in the hands of a boy he knew nothing about. Not to mention his skill with the bo staff.

"In any case, you need to get the bells in order for me to legally say I passed you."

"You mean the bells I just handed Naruto and Sai while you weren't paying attention?" asked Yue.

"The ones I let you get since Sai here is more than willing to work with you two without committing murder to the ears," Kakashi corrected eye smiling.

There was a reason why he didn't want the Haruno girl. She had the voice of a damn banshee and barely passed the more important parts of the Academy exam, skating through on her written grades a paltry three bunshin.

"Now that that's out of the way...sparring match anyone?"

"I choose Sai!" said Naruto cheering. Yue grinned at the boy, lightly patting his head. Kakashi noted with amusement the boy practically leaned into the touch like a cat.

Sai and Naruto sparred easily, and Kakashi realized with some dismay that he would have to fix Naruto's brawler style. Yue at least gave as good as he got, and Kakashi rather enjoyed fighting him.

* * *

"I HATE THAT CAT!" yelled Naruto loudly.

Yue would normally quiet his brother down, but this was one of the few things all three boys agreed on. Sai had lost the game before to see who would carry the damn feline to the mission office, so he was stuck with a pissed off hellion determined to scratch the living hell out of him in another attempt to escape.

Fortunately, Yue had a habit of carrying around a full medic's kit every time it was their turn to retrieve the demon known as Tora.

Unfortunately, every time someone so much as glared at Naruto or called him demo brat, he used a mild genjutsu that left the victim screaming bloody murder.

When asked by Ibiki (who later laughed his ass off when he found out what Yue actually did) what he put the victim through, Yue answered every time with the same answer.

"I forced them to catch a Tora the size of the Kyuubi. In triplicate."

The shinobi _hated_ Tora with a passion. It was only because he belonged to the Daimyo's Wife that they even went after it. It was labeled a D rank because the higher ranked shinobi felt that if they had to suffer chasing after it, then by Kami the genin should suffer it!

So Yue did something that would have Kakashi scratching his head in confusion for weeks later. He let Naruto have at the cat with Sai helping...then healed all evidence of the deed.

Needless to say the bane of Konoha was rather quiet after the event when Yue threatened to shove a kunai with an exploding note up its ass if it even _tried _to scratch his team again.

The cat was traumatized beyond thinking by Yue. Who normally loved animals, particularly birds.

* * *

The Hokage looked like he was ready to laugh his ass off. Somehow, someway, Team 7 had been permanently blacklisted from catching Tora. According to the Fire Daimyo's Wife, the cat hadn't been the same since Yue was through with it. In fact it had been an entire week since Tora had managed to escape.

Needless to say several genin were waiting for the other kunai to drop. No way were they getting off that easy from dealing with Tora.

Luckily for Kakashi, they had finally cleared the required number of missions for a relatively mild C rank. There were three up for new genin teams. A mission to Wave, a trade mission to Suna, and one to the outskirts of Kumo.

Yue, as the elected leader of the boys, chose the one to Sand. Wave gave him a bad feeling.

Besides, Kurama told him that Shukaku was in Suna.

"We'll meet at the gate tomorrow at noon," said Kakashi.

"You mean three?" said Yue.

"I planned to set it to nine, which by my time is noon," said Kakashi eye smiling at Yue.

"Ah. You're paying for Ichiraku before we leave then," said Yue.

Ichiraku had become the official after mission stop for Team 7. Even Sai had acquired a taste for the ramen.

Kakashi was just glad that even though he was stuck with a ROOT drone, the boy at least didn't insult Naruto or Yue to the point that a fight broke out. Yue was surprisingly adept at getting Naruto to get along with Sai, even with the odd comments the boy made.

The first time Sai met Yue, the ghostly boy had given him some advice he took to heart. If he had trouble acting like a normal child, then he should find someone and follow their example.

When sent to act as the third teammate on Team 7 due to the fact that two of the four refused to even work with anyone while the other two were perfectly capable of working with anyone they needed to and were more shinobi like than the first pair, Sai had mixed feelings. The second he found out that the oldest of his new team was the same ghost who had told him to follow by example, he actually felt relieved. Yue had the ability to get along with practically anyone he met, due to his loose and friendly attitude. So, as Sai had been trained (and ordered by Danzo to find a book on human interaction) he followed by example. In this case, he tried to follow the visual cues by Yue and Naruto. He was more successful trying to be like Yue than Naruto, possibly because Yue wasn't eternally optimistic.

To Sai, Naruto was like the sun, and Yue was a bird. He didn't know what he was just yet.

* * *

It took three days to reach Suna. Only Naruto complained about the heat, but he quickly shut up when Kakashi finally showed the three an interesting chakra control exercise so he would quit slipping on sand. It was an adaptation of the water walking exercise he showed them the third week.

Naruto got it down in an hour.

Since they had to wait a day or two before returning home, Yue took the other boys exploring after swearing to Kakashi he wouldn't cause an international incident or trouble.

Half an hour later, Yue was wondering who he pissed off in his last life to have accidentally bumped into Shukaku's container. Who apparently didn't get much sleep. And was currently homicidal after listening to his brother whine about something for the past _hour_.

Yue told Naruto and Sai to stay back while he calmed the boy down. Once he finally landed a hand on Gaara (he heard the older girl say the boy's name in alarm) he used the odd magical link he created with Kyuubi to give Shukaku a bit of a static shock.

The sand raccoon reared back in surprise, and as a result Gaara's attack paused long enough for Yue to try to calm the boy down. He had already impressed the other shinobi by his acrobatics and his bird like dodging. He used his bo staff expertly as he pole vaulted above the sand walls.

By the time he had given Shukaku that shock, Gaara's homicidal mood had slowly dwindled into curiosity. He had never come across anyone who could avoid his sand and yet didn't attack him while they were at it. First he would talk to the boy, then he would kill him.

Finally, Yue leaned on his bo staff grinning at Gaara calmly. He didn't even look upset that the boy had tried his best to kill him.

"You're a better opponent than the Scarecrow. At least you can keep me on my toes without using some sort of weird eye."

"Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Yue. The orange kid is my little brother Naruto and the pale robot is Sai. What's your name?"

"Gaara no Sabaku."

"Interesting. Since we're going to be here for a few days, want to spar again?"

Gaara blinked. This guy wanted to spar with him after he tried to crush him into a paste?

"That would be acceptable," said Gaara in a monotone.

"See you around, Gaara-san," said Yue, walking on the electrical wires above, which he had landed on earlier, like a cat.

He did a double back flip and landed on the ground like one too.

Gaara watched the odd shinobi and said something that shocked his brother and sister.

"I like him."

* * *

Yue ran into Gaara again that night, on the roof of the hotel they were staying at. He flipped over the balcony onto the roof.

"Hi!"

"What are you?"

"Why don't you ask the sand raccoon what I am. I'm guessing the Fox must have mentioned me when I passed on the link."

Gaara blinked, then cocked his head.

Shukaku was annoyed, but not murderously so.

"_**How the hell did a dimension jumper end up in a container?"**_

"_No idea, Shukaku-san. Did you like your chat with Kyuubi?"_

"_**Was what he said true? Will you help us contact the Witch so we won't be sealed again?"**_

"_Yes, but I need to regain most of my former reserves just to go to her store. I think this one isn't registered with her tunnel provider."_

"_**Bah."**_

Gaara looked at him with wide eyes.

"You...you can speak to Mother?"

Yue blinked.

"_Uh...Shukaku-san? Why the hell does the kid call you mother?"_

"_**Damned if I know. I get to kill people through him, so I never bothered to correct him. Blame his dad for killing his own," **_replied the Sand Raccoon, bearing the title with well worn patience.

"Gaara-kun, I don't think the voice inside your head is your mother. If anything, I would say older brother or cousin is more appropriate," said Yue delicately. He could hear Shukaku choke, even if Yue was trying to make the nickname Gaara gave the raccoon more appropriate to his gender. He was a guy dammit! He wasn't the kid's mom!

By the time they left Suna, Yue had left a foundation for Shukaku to work on to at least make Gaara slightly more stable. Though the raccoon was just happy the red-head quit calling him 'mother'.

* * *

Kakashi was the one to find the hawk sent from Konoha.

"Change of plans. We head to Wave at first light," he said.

"Why?"

"Gai's team, who took that Wave mission you rejected, ran into some trouble. Apparently the client mislabeled it, and it's two ranks higher than he claimed. The Hokage wants us to be their back up, since no one else is available."

Yue paled.

"Isn't Gai that morning person who insists on exercising on the wall at 4:30 every day?" he asked.

"How did you know?"

"I hear things. Dear kami, that man is insane..."

"I know his spandex and unbreakable genjutsu is horrifying, but that's no reason to call him insane," said Kakashi smiling.

"I wasn't referring to that. I'm talking about the fact he's a morning person who get's up at four _willingly_ just to do bizarre training rituals."

"Oh...well in that sense, you are correct, he is completely insane," nodded Kakashi sagely.

Sai and Naruto watched this exchange with amusement.


	4. Chapter 4

Neji Hyuuga watched Yue with something akin to curiosity. The older boy's chakra network was damn near identical to Naruto's, only it was calm to Naruto's raging torrent and had an unknown type flowing like a calm river about to become rapids.

The strange thing was that the second Tenten saw his bo staff, Yue had given her an impromptu lesson on how to use it. The way he flitted around using the staff as a launching pad reminded Neji of a bird. The fact he was whistling the entire time didn't hurt this mental image, since it sounded like birds chirping.

Tenten officially idolized Yue, because he was practically a master of a weapon she didn't use much. Yue didn't act offended by all her questions, and Lee was in awe of how flexible Yue was. He could practically maneuver like a bird in the air.

Gai was actually taking notes as Yue gave Lee a few tricks he could pull while wearing that bizarre spandex outfit of his. Though he did startle a laugh out of Neji when he backed away from Gai telling him to stay away because morning people apparently freaked him out. In the words of Yue, morning people were devils that made the Kyuubi look like a timid pet. Especially ones as energetic as Gai who tried to get people to join him.

After that Neji took to chatting with the blond more often, if only because he seemed saner than his sensei. He found that Yue had a strong distaste for prophecies and superstition because it had screwed him over rather badly before coming to Konoha. And that he did believe in fate, but also believed that with enough effort it could be changed to something better.

* * *

It was when Kakashi tested the trio on their elements that he found something rather odd.

Naruto and Yue had identical elements. Water and Wind. Sai was Earth and Fire.

Though it did explain a lot about how Yue moved. His body unconsciously channeled Water chakra with the way it bent and contorted and the Wind acted as a buffer for when he was in the air.

It made Kakashi rather amazed that Yue was able to pull something like that off unconsciously.

Then he saw Yue training Naruto to do the same, and he was shocked by the results.

Naruto was soon like a monkey on crack while high above the ground. Wind chakra made it easy for him to turn on a dime while his Water chakra enabled him to move smoothly even with some of the more complex tricks.

Yue even showed Sai a few tricks. By the time Kakashi set them to spar with Gai's team, there was a marked improvement in their taijutsu, particularly Naruto.

Yue tended to spar with Tenten (it doubled as staff training), Neji went after Sai, and Naruto would kill time with Lee.

It wasn't until Yue ran into Zabuza's apprentice, who had rescued him after Neji had shut off the man's tenketsu and was about to let Tenten fill him with sharp pointy objects, that he realized Yue was an oddball in every sense of the word. Like Naruto, Yue was peaceful and open. He easily made friends and his loyalty to anyone who proved worth it was unquestionable.

However, when pressed by a samurai who went to hurt Tenten because she was the lone female of the group (not that you could tell), Kakashi watched as Yue turned into an unbreakable defense as he literally breaks the man's katana and both kneecaps with his staff. Tenten didn't like having Yue stop the man, but Kakashi could see from the boy's eyes that he knew what death looked like and wasn't afraid to kill.

Death was an old friend to him, and greeted him with open arms.

* * *

Haku was unsure about the older boy with the staff. He watched the ice user gather plants, often offering some that Haku didn't spot himself.

The older boy feels so familiar, yet different at the same time. Even when he unleashed a little icy wind his way, Yue didn't even blink. It scared Haku a bit that he was so relaxed around the blond who never showed any fear or envy towards his bloodline. In fact Yue is at best indifferent towards the entire thing, saying that if Haku didn't have his ice, then he wouldn't be him.

Such complete acceptance scares him, yet he feels a peace in his soul that he had never experienced before. He feels a pain in his soul as he dreads the idea of fighting the tall lanky youth.

* * *

Zabuza's appearance didn't surprise the Konoha nin. However the way Yue reacted to Haku did. The tall blond cheerfully waved at the boy, completely unconcerned. Haku feels something grip his chest and refuse to let go.

Unknown to Haku, Zabuza saw the minute tenseness his apprentice had towards the tall blond. With the way Yue fought with Haku, like it was a simple game, he started to formulate a plan.

He had been getting the feeling that this would be his last mission. It had been growing since he ran into that morning monster Gai. (Zabuza shares the same opinion Yue does about morning people).

He watches silently the interaction between Haku and the tall blond and realizes that his apprentice has found someone who accepts him completely without question. If this was to be his last day, he couldn't think of anyone better to leave Haku to than the tall blond who reminded him of a bird.

Then Yue completely shocks everyone when, after he senses the foul presence of Gato arriving on the other end of the bridge, he transforms...and not with any chakra.

Where a lanky blond with light blue eyes had been flitting through the air using his staff, there was now a beautiful and entrancing bird with the most hypnotizing song.

The feathers were about rather long, and colored like pure ice, with streaks of gold and teal colored blue on the edges. The tail had to be about five feet long. The feet ended in sharp talons. On it's head were teal colored feathers about half a foot long each, and a blue sapphire jewel just above the eyes. The beak was razor sharp and had to be at least two feet long, and was straight with a slight bump right where the feathers met the beak.. The wingspan was a good six to seven feet from tip to tip. But it was the eyes that drew your attention. Around the eyes were light blue colored feathers. The eyes were the exact same light blue as Yue's, with the edges lined in silver.

When it cried, you could feel the power behind it.

Ice-blue flames enveloped it, and it dive bombed past the mist Zabuza conjured, ripping it to shreds.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he heard an indignant shriek from a voice he knew too well for his liking.

"Gato...What the hell is that bastard doing here?" he snarled.

The bird attacked Gato with a passion. Zabuza took his sword and spat out to the surprise jounin that he could care less about the bridge builder...he wanted to gut Gato.

In the process, he ended up injured beyond healing...but it was entirely worth it when he cut Gato's head off.

Haku, his apprentice was heartbroken when his master ended up falling. The wounds were beyond his ability to heal. Even if his chakra was unbound, which would take an hour even with Neji's help.

Zabuza, on the other hand, focused on Yue.

"Keep him safe," he ordered the teen.

"I would do so anyway. He would be perfectly fine to move into the house I found near the forest with my brother and I," he said.

Yue had looked high and low for a proper house, when the Hokage offered one that Minato had bought for Kushina since she hated being cooped up in the village.

No one had wanted it, because it was so close to the Forest of Death, even though it once belonged to the Fourth Hokage.

Yue bought it for a discount price since no one wanted to be that close to a forest known to house the massive Fire Country tigers and numerous deadly animals/insects/plants. And the tax for the place was surprisingly cheap as well.

It was rather roomy, and Yue hoped to invite Sai to live with them since it had several unfilled bedrooms.

He had already erased the seal on the back of Sai's throat and left a fake tattoo in it's place. Not that the pale boy knew about that.

Haku at least understood what Zabuza was really saying. He wanted his apprentice/son to live with Yue and the cheerful blond Naruto.

The Great Naruto Bridge (named after the embarrassed blond who finally snapped Inari out of his depression and got the boy's act together) was completed in only a few days after the battle, once they repaired the damage done by the fight. Yue had already alerted the Hokage about Haku, and once the boy was cleared by Anko, he would be living with them in their new home.

Naruto was just happy that he could now put proper wards around his house, since it was against the law to do so to a rented space. No more birthday mobs! No more broken windows or doors!

And Haku...he didn't know why, but being around Yue was like coming home. Possibly because according to Yue, he was naturally adept at ice abilities.

* * *

It had been over two weeks since the double missions, and Haku fit in better than he would have hoped. In fact, everything had settled down to everyone's relief...until...

Haku stared at the sky, as did many of the other shinobi. It was a bizarre ball falling from high in the sky, revealing a massive set of wings.

Haku was the first to actually reach the group. And the second he saw the tall blond in odd clothing, his mouth dropped in absolute shock.

"_Yue-nii?!"_ he said incredulous.

The blond flinched, but gently corrected the boy.

"My name is Fai. Fai D. Flouright."

Haku shook his head. There was no mistaking this feeling. It was identical to the way Yue made him feel. He didn't even complain that the blond insisted that he simply call him Yue-nii.

"You're wrong. You have the exact same feeling as Yue does!" said Haku.

"Is there a problem Yue-san?" asked Asuma, who happened to be nearby.

Before any of the group could speak, a loud cry was heard above them.

Suddenly the bird shifted from flying to falling with a rather interesting twist of his lanky body.

Fai stared at the boy before him in shock and disbelief. It was him...but it wasn't.

"Hello Yue. Or should I say Fai?" he said.

That face...it was so painfully familiar. But it wasn't Fai's double from another world. Being so close, he could feel the magic it had, different from those of this world.

It was magic he had not felt in years...and it broke his heart to pieces.

"Asuma-sensei, could you tell the Old Man I'll take care of these people until they leave? Just rank them as civilians...and a samurai if I'm not mistaken."

"And the odd rabbit?"

"Nin animal to the samurai," said Yue smoothly.

"Just need to register them," said Asuma.

"Seal from Uzushiogakure that didn't break until now?" suggested Yue.

"That'll work. Cheers!" said Asuma, heading to inform his father about the visitors and the cover Yue gave them. With how oddly they arrived, a broken seal from the Land of Whirlpools was viable enough since the two had been ancient allies.

Yue lead them through Konoha to his house, amused by the double takes his twin was getting.

* * *

"Yue-nii! Did you hear about the odd seal... What's with the oddly dressed Shadow clone?"

Yue laughed, a tinkling sound.

"Naruto, meet Fai. Fai, meet Naruto."

Fai stared at the young blond with shock. Yue's magic was rampant in his body...which would only happen if he was reborn!

"Alright, would _someone_ tell me what the hell is going on here? Fai, what's with the body double and why do you look like you've seen a ghost?!" demanded the samurai.

"Because he has. Perhaps I should explain with a story..." said Yue.

Yue took a deep breath.

"A long time ago, there was a kingdom. This kingdom was full of magic, but there was something that the people dreaded. Twin heirs to the throne. Because twins share a special bond, they were feared, doubly so if the twins were of royal blood. One day, the queen who had been carrying the King's child gave birth to a pair of twin boys,"said Yue. He looked at the people in the house, and knew they were getting an inkling where this was going.

Fai's group seemed to note that the story had struck a chord in the normally cheerful blond, because he wasn't teasing the taller swordsman.

"The queen, mad with grief and despair for conceiving twins, committed suicide. The king gave the twins two choices. They could sacrifice one and have the second absorb the powers of the other...or they could be exiled to a place where only the worst criminals were condemned to die. The brothers, who had never done a thing against the people or the king, chose to be together and refused to kill one just to satisfy some dark belief that twins bring disaster. Because together they were stronger than alone, one twin was placed in the tower while the other was left in the pit, unable to reach each other.

"One day, after many years had passed, people began to fall in the pit. Men, women, even innocent children, they all began to fall dead. The twin, who had been in the pit, found a message that the King had gone mad and had begun to kill the people in a fit, and blamed the twins for his murders. It had become clear that they would never escape...when a few months after the dead began to pile up, a man came. He offered the one in the tower a chance to free his brother at the cost of his life. That brother would be cursed, but he would be free."

Yue looked at everyone at the table. Naruto had curled up to his side, crying. He had already figured out that Yue was the twin who sacrificed himself to free the other. The young girl beside the homunculus was also crying, as she could feel Fai's turmoil.

"The other brother spent many years trying to bring the one who sacrificed himself back to life...but there was something he didn't know."

Fai looked up, his eyes filled with pain.

"Yue, you were never meant to be a healer. While you may have mastered it to a point, your natural magic was not geared towards healing those broken. You were the protector. I realized that when I started to use my magic almost instinctively to heal those around me without knowing the more advanced spells to do so. So quit breaking yourself up about my death already. I got a second chance to live, so there is absolutely no reason for you to continue trying to bring a dead body back to life already."

The tall samurai blinked.

"How are we supposed to know if you're telling us the truth? For all we know, you're an alternate version of this idiot."

"You want proof I'm his twin? Well that's easy enough to do."

Yue grabbed Fai's hand, as fast as a striking snake, and Fai could feel the bond which he had thought broken years ago.

Across time and space, the body which had died years ago to free his brother crumbled into dust. The material which had kept it from decay fell to the ground freed from its duty.

At the same time, Yue felt his body solidify in a way Naruto simply couldn't recreate with a clone. He had become flesh and blood again.


	5. Chapter 5

It was quickly apparent that Fai and Yue was definitely twins. The way they acted around each other made that much apparent, so much so that Naruto felt like the odd man out. He would have been depressed had Yue not seen fit to drag Naruto with him so that Fai could get used to the blond.

Fai seemed to take Naruto with grace, and quickly decided that the blond child was more like a younger brother than anything. After that Naruto was decidedly more cheerful about the newcomers.

In fact it was because of this that Naruto took to holding Fai's hand while he dragged him around Konoha, unaware of the surprised look the blond had at the contact.

Because Naruto was a personality Yue had allowed to develop naturally in the body he had been reborn in while keeping his own slightly separate, the link Yue had with Fai had been extended to Naruto as well.

Naruto absolutely adored Kurogane who viewed him as annoying, but not entirely hopeless. He kept blushing around the rather spacy Sakura and listened with rapt attention to the rather amused Syaoran. The brunette rather liked the cheerful blond, who listened with genuine interest in his hobby.

No one even noticed that Yue took Mokona aside so he could contact Yuko directly.

* * *

Fai was surprised when he saw his twin shape shift into a giant bird that for some reason looked practically identical to his Kudan on the first world they went together.

"So...why did you tell them that story?" he asked.

"_They needed to know the full issue. In fact, I was fully intending to visit the witch in order to bargain for the ability to look for you,"_ said Yue.

"But...you know the curse he placed on me..." said Fai.

"_I know. However, what you fail to remember is that together we are stronger than most people we will encounter, barring the Witch herself a few others. We'll think of something brother."_

"What about the boy?"

"_Naruto is my reborn form. His personality is a combination of his mother and father, and with me, he'll be able to become the leader of this village and prove everyone wrong. But...I think he would do better as our little brother instead."_

"What of the other boy? Haku?"

"_He's my apprentice. His bloodline is really more of an advanced form of ice magic. Most of the elemental ones around here are the same. I'm training him to be a human Koorime."_

"Yue...have you seen the feather we're after?"

"_I think the better question is where I put the thing. We found it five years ago and I've mostly been using it as a bookmark. I could have used it to get to the Witch, but I didn't want to be stranded in her world until my reserves were high enough to jump on my own."_

"Brother, what do you plan to do when we leave?" asked Fai. Now that he knew his twin was alive and well, he didn't want to lose him twice.

"_Baka. Did you think I would let you leave without giving you a way to contact me? I plan to ask Yuko-san for something that would let us chat. Once you finish collecting the feathers you can come back here with me. Or I can take Naruto with me so we can stick together."_

"I'm really glad to have you back."

"_Me too, Fai."_

* * *

It turned out Yuko did have a way for them to talk while Fai was off retrieving feathers. Still, Yue had no idea where he left the feather, since there were a _lot_ of books around the house.

Since they were going to be stuck there until they found whichever book Yue put the feather in, they decided to use that time to train.

At least, until Yue made an odd comment about Syaoran which upset the boy.

"I still don't see why you keep traveling with a homunculus instead of the original."

Fai blinked.

"Are you sure? I haven't detected anything to suggest homunculus."

"Positive. The only piece of him that comes from human is the right eye. The other one is fake, which is probably why he can't see from it. The only reason I noticed it was because he positively reeks of that man's magic."

"What are you talking about?" asked Syaoran.

Yue looked at Syaoran, and said bluntly "You aren't fully human. I sensed it since I first saw you. Your body is magically manufactured, but only someone who had been in contact with the person who created it or knew what to look for would know. Tell me, how long have you been unable to see from your left eye?"

"For as long as I can remember," said Syaoran.

"It seems that your genetic makeup stems from the right eye. The original body must be in stasis if you haven't been able to see from the left. Whoever it is, they are very skilled. However I can also sense a spell that's inside your left eye. A compulsion and personality rewrite if I'm not mistaken. Whoever left this was not only skilled enough to hide it, but rather cruel."

"What does it do?" asked Fai.

"According to this, when activated he will attack the largest source of magical energy and will be driven only by the need to complete whatever his creator's objective is. Considering he was placed in the same kingdom as little Sakura-chan here, my guess would be that he would be driven to retrieve feathers no matter what the cost or who gets in his way. And because he genuinely cares for her, the only source of magical energy he could feasibly go after...is you Fai."

"How the hell do you know all this?" asked Kurogane.

"My natural specialty is healing, and I've come in direct contact with the one who created Syaoran's body here. While he is manufactured, it doesn't mean he's any less human. Judging by his personality, which would be influenced by the original a good deal, the one with the left eye will most likely not be seeking to retrieve his missing piece. In fact they will be similar in personality, but the original will be a bit better at fighting."

"But why would anyone use an eye?" asked Kurogane.

"My guess? Because eyes are easily replaceable, and they stay the same size from birth. Putting an eye into an infant and letting it grow into a new body is entirely possible."

(_A/N: that bit about eyes is actually true. Eyes stay the same size from the moment we're born.)_

"What do we do then?" asked Kurogane. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of this.

"For now there isn't much you can do until the original awakes. However I would be wary of any sudden personality changes around Syaoran-kun. Tell me, have you experienced any black outs or memory loss only to find whatever you were trying to do over with?"

"...Once. But I didn't know what happened."

"That would be the original version taking over for a few moments, or the spell kicking in. Most likely the former. In any case, you shouldn't worry about it right now. I hear the chunin exams are coming up in a week, and I was hoping you could stay for the finals. I'm sure we'll find that feather sooner or later."

* * *

Yue found the feather not in a book, like he had assumed, but in a scroll a week later. He finally remembered why he put it in there too. The thing had been giving off serious 'chakra' readings a year into having it, and he didn't want anyone to know he had it. Particularly Danzo, since the man might try to use it for his own gain. With the amount of power the feather had, the man could easily beat the Hokage before the old man had a chance to fight back.

Yue had checked into the exams before through Kakashi, and found they never lasted longer than a month and a half, max. Which meant he had a full month before he had to contact the Witch and ask for a set of inter-dimensional mirrors to talk to his brother. No way was he leaving Fai on his own.

Plus he still needed to get the price required to give the Bijuu human bodies so they wouldn't be sealed like before.

Kurama was of the opinion that traveling around the dimensions was better than being stuck in some ungrateful kid's stomach for the third time. It was boring, and they never thanked him for the power boost!

Shukaku was tired of the tea-pot.

* * *

Yue was speaking to Yuko before heading into the exam hall. They were going to go through the window, since it was faster.

"_**Are you prepared to pay the price for these mirrors? This is the only one I have and it will take some time to get a new spelled mirror with the same spells."**_

"I refuse to lose my twin twice. I don't care that I will never be able to see my home world again. Fai and Naruto are all I have left. Can I use it to contact you one I have the price for the Bijuu?"

"_**Yes. The one I am sending is connected to the Mokona. Remember, the payment for giving them new bodies and allowing them to travel outside their own world must be paid by the majority. As I recall, one or two of them are captured in the early years."**_

"I'll talk to them whenever I see them. I can probably rely on Kyuubi-san to help me find them."

"_**Very well. I shall take my payment for the mirror then."**_

Yue could feel the drain on his magic, as he lost all ties to the world he was born in. It was a barren wasteland now, and all the people he knew were dead. He never wanted to be there again anyway.

However, there was an unexpected side effect of giving up his sense of home. Because the world one is born in can define a person, he had to reorient himself in order to live.

Luckily, he had a back up. Naruto could sense the change, and asked with concern what was going on through the link. Yue was too weakened to answer. Once his soul registered the world he was in as it's point of origin, he was able to breath again.

Yuko held up an ice blue orb in her hand.

"_**Your payment has been received, Yue Uzumaki. As promised, here is the mirror."**_

Mokona's mouth opened wide, and something in the shape of a silver star shot out. Yue narrowly caught it. Each point of the star had a different mirror. In the center was a magic circle which could be used to transport things across dimensions. Each of the five points could be set to a specific person so long as they had something to connect to.

And the first one he set it to was his brother.

Suddenly he ended up with a lap full of blond.

"YUE-NII! I was so worried!" said Naruto.

"I'm fine Naruto...just making a deal with Yuko-san."

"What's that?"

"This is a mirror that will allow us to talk to Fai and the others when they leave. It will also let us send them ramen occasionally."

"Really?"

"_**It also gives you a general location should one of them end up injured and in need of aid. By setting one of the five points to someone who can connect, it will automatically take you to the world they are on through the dimensional tunnel. However the price for that is quite a bit higher,"**_ said Yuko.

"Good to know."

* * *

Yue was not happy. While the cheating part was a complete pain to get through (he took pity on Naruto and gave him the answers he could see across the room) and he could live with five days in the Forest (one of his favorite places to fly in) finding out that Orochimaru, the worst criminal to have defected from Konoha, was in there with them and had mistaken Sai for Sasuke was a complete pain in the ass.

Fortunately, Orochimaru had no defenses against magic. So they managed to escape...however the seal around the Kyuubi had been loosened.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem...however Yue bunked with the Kyuubi occasionally and it had jarred a few things loose. That was something he didn't like, since it meant they had to waste a day while Yue cleaned up the mess Orochimaru left. To make a bad thing even more unpleasant, the Snake had marked Naruto with a seal that screwed up his chakra control, and by extension Yue's magic.

Once he cleaned up the books and other nicknacks, Yue had his right hand glow blue while he jabbed Naruto hard in the stomach. The seal was shattered in an instant.

"OW!"

"Don't be a baby. I was undoing the seal that snake put on you. Made a right mess of that seal," said Yue crossly.

"Yue-nii..." whined Naruto.

"Naruto, the only reason you aren't a complete idiot is because I took extra precaution in reading everything for you. As such I am both your older brother and your guide to any jutsu that you want to learn, since for some reason you have trouble retaining any information you deem boring. Coincidentally, I hate history, even if Iruka was the one teaching it."

"What should we do, Tori-san?" asked Sai.

Sai had taken to giving them nicknames, after reading a book about friendship. The first few names didn't sit well with the two, but eventually he found ones that didn't anger his teammates.

Yue was now Tori, and Naruto was Taiyo. In response, the two brothers called him Tsuki, since he seemed to reflect their cheerful nature.

Sadly, when Kiba heard of this the only thing that came to mind was the fact that Tsuki was a girl's name. This lead to Ino and Hinata dragging him on a shopping trip from hell as retaliation.

After that, Yue changed it to Kagami, which was less girly than Tsuki.

"We hit another team, steal their scroll and head to the tower. No way in hell am I staying in this forest another night with that creep on the loose!" said Yue firmly.

Between Yue's bird form and Naruto's clones, they quickly found another team that had the scroll they needed. After that Yue flew the other two straight to the tower, by passing all the traps some of the scroll hunters had gathered.

After all, how often did you find a _flying_ ninja that wasn't from Suna that could turn on a dime?

* * *

Iruka stared at the team, but quickly explained the board. Once they were settled in, Yue brought out a notepad and started to write something.

After thirty minutes Sai became curious as to what their captain was doing, only to discover Yue was writing a book. What sort of book, he had no idea, but it was well written and there were little, if any grammatical or spelling errors.

"What are you writing Yue-nii?" asked Naruto.

"A yaoi. You know those tacky orange covered books they sell in the shops, like what Kakashi reads? I've decided to try my hand at it."

"...Is this because Fai-nii and Kurogane are an item?" asked Naruto.

"How did you know?"

"Because I know you, nii-san. You wouldn't hesitate to tease your twin for finding a boyfriend as grumpy as Kurogane," said Naruto sagely.

"Plus in all likelihood it would be a better seller than _Icha Icha,_" said Sai.

"How do you figure?"

"You actually know how to write and spell properly. From what I've seen of Jiraiya's reports, he can barely do that much," replied Sai.

"Somehow, I can believe that. I've read one of those orange books and I burned my only copy after the first chapter. Kakashi actually cried, saying it had died too young," said Yue amused.

And with that, Yue, Naruto and Sai conspired together to write a porn based on Fai's love life with a somewhat oblivious Kurogane. When the samurai got his hands on the first copy, he would end up chasing Fai and yelling at him for giving his twin weird ideas.

Fai, of course, would read the books and keep them as ideas for later when he finally snagged the black-haired samurai. Of course the twins would share a laugh about it later.


End file.
